September the 3rd, 2022 - The Crikvenica riviera is among the country's most popular destinations to visit for Croatian tourists keen on getting away from where they live and taking time to relax within the country's borders.

As Morski writes, the Crikvenica Riviera is one of the favourite tourist destinations for Croatian tourists, with the most numerous among them living in and coming from the wider Zagreb area and from Eastern Croatia.

Throughout the main summer tourist season, Croatian tourists tend to choose to spend their summer holidays off work in various destinations situated along the Crikvenica Riviera, where there are foreign visitors, but far less of them in comparison to Dubrovnik, Split, or parts of Central and Southern Dalmatia. The proximity of the continental part of the country, the Northern Adriatic, including the Istrian peninsula and Kvarner, is one of the reasons Croatian tourists love this part of the country so much.

Croatian tourists keen for a break by the coast have always loved Crikvenica, and they are second in terms of the amount of number of overnight stays and number of arrivals realised here,'' said Mariana Biondic, the director of the Crikvenica Tourist Board. While some come to this part of the Croatian coastline because it tends to boast more affordable accommodation facilities and slightly lower prices, Crikvenica also offers more luxurious accommodation for those with deeper pockets.

''In this way, we attract a large number of Croatian tourists easily, given the proximity to excellent transport connections. We have one hotel that works all year round, which is excellently recognised by local guests,'' said Lucija Jukic, the director of sales and marketing at Jadran Crikvenica hotels and camps.

As HRT writes, the global coronavirus pandemic has well and truly changed the habits of everyone, and Croatian tourists are no exception. Interest in tourist destinations within the borders of this country has grown throughout recent years, because unfortunately for many, coming to the Adriatic coast in the heart of the hot summer season is an unrealisable and extremely costly dream reserved solely for foreign visitors.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

July 18, 2020 - Tourism was on hold when we started this series of articles, but most of us still have plenty of time. So let's look at the virtual resources available to explore Croatia virtually. We continue our new Virtual Croatia series with the tools to discover Crikvenica, a sea-side town often considered "the beach of Zagreb".

A few weeks ago I wrote that being a tourism blogger in the corona era was about as useful as being a cocktail barman in Saudi Arabia. I feel less useless now, a few weeks later, and I am encouraged by the number of Croatian tourism businesses who are contacting us wanting to start thinking of promoting post-corona tourism. 

One of the challenges of writing about tourism at the moment is that there is nothing positive to write about. With people confined to their homes and tourism in Croatia currently not possible, many have decided to go into hibernation until it is all over. 

I think that this is a mistake, and I have greatly enjoyed the TCN series by Zoran Pejovic of Paradox Hospitality on thinking ahead to tourism in a post-corona world.  You can find Zoran's articles here.

Way back on March 14 - several lifetimes ago - I published an article called Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Ways to Discover Zagreb. The way I saw things, now was an OUTSTANDING opportunity for tourism promotion. People have time, they yearn for their freedom and former lives, so give them the tools to thoroughly research and enjoy your destinations, and you will have then longing to be there. And when they do come, they will have a deeper understanding of the destination due to their research. 

South Africa and Portugal were the first to do their post-corona tourism promotion videos several weeks ago (Post-Corona Tourism Planning: Lessons from South Africa and Portugal), a trick which has been followed by other tourism countries, the latest being Croatia with the national tourist board campaign, #CroatiaLongDistanceLove, going live yesterday.

But while these campaigns create longing and market presence, they don't really educate. People now have time to really get into destinations. And dreams of escape to somewhere more exotic are high on the list of priorities of many. 

So TCN has decided to help with that education with a new series called Virtual Croatia, where we will be helping you discover many of Croatia's destinations with all the best virtual tools available on your self-isolating sofa at home. 

We started with Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Tools to Discover Hvar.

After this, we put our a press release (which you can read here in English and Croatian) offering a free article to any local tourist board in Croatia who would like the free promotion in our Virtual Croatia series. 

The Sinj Tourist Board was the first to respond, and now you can see just how rich the tourism offer is in this proud Alka town - your virtual tools to Discover Sinj. This was followed by Discover Opatija, Discover Brela, Discover Rogoznica, Discover Stari Grad, Discover Omiš, Discover Lumbarda, Discover Jezera, Discover Šolta, Discover Cavtat and Konavle, Discover Koprivnica, Discover Pašman, Discover Gradac, Discover Virovitica, and Discover Bibinje.

Gordana Jelenović from the Crikvenica Riviera Tourist Board gave us a hand in putting together some resources for you to discover Crikvenica. 

Let's begin! 

Discover Crikvenica - Zagreb's Beach

Riviera Crikvenica in 4K from 2018

Beautifully safe - promo video by Tourist Board made this year

Beautifully safe - promo video by Tourist Board in English

A perfect oasis - promo video

Crikvenica without people, earlier this year

Beaches as far as the eye can see

Crikvenica beaches in 2020

Another video that will make you want to jump in right away 

A German video about the beauty of Crikvenica

XCM Bike Marathon in and around Crikvenica

Swimming marathon Šilo (Krk) - Crikvenica

Crikvenica Riviera - an Oasis of well-being

Discover Crikvenica Websites

Crikvenica Riviera Tourist Board website offers you a lot of resources, including a video section where you can find many more videos about the town and the Riviera around it. You can learn more about the Riviera, including about their history, location, climate, and more. And you can even see what's happening right now, on their web-cams.  

Are you now beginning to understand why we said that Crikvenica is popular with the people of Zagreb, and that it's not JUST because it's close?

To discover more of virtual Croatia, you can follow this series in our dedicated section, Virtual Croatia. 

If you are a local tourist board in Croatia and would like your destination featured in this series for free, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Virtual Croatia (and destination name)

Kvarner's tourist traffic numbers continue their upward trajectory. The Kvarner region, located in Northwestern Croatia, finished 2019 with 3.1 million arrivals and 19.1 million overnight stays. Compared to 2018, there were 2% more arrivals and 1% more overnights. Overnights also increased by 3% compared to 2017, 13% compared to 2016 and 50% compared to 2010.

During peak season, overnight stays remained at last year's levels, with an average occupancy of 25 days, and 30 days at hotels. That means that there wasn't a lot of room for growth during the the busiest season of the year, according to MorskiHR on January 8, 2020. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that overnight more stays increased by 1% during pre-season, while the post-season overnight stays increased by 4%. The increase in overnights during pre and post-season is more significant when compared with results from 2010, and it shows that overnights during these times of the year increased by 90%, according to the tourist board.

Germany Traditionally Strongest Market

In 2019, 630,000 German guests visited the Kvarner region, resulting in almost 4.7 million overnight stays. This figure has certainly been influenced by the large number of promotions directed toward the German market.  In addition to Germany, three more markets have reached more than one million overnights: Slovenia (3 million), Austria (1.8 million) and Italy (1.3 million). The share of foreign traffic for these four countries is nearly 70%.

Kvarner’s inclusion on group tour routes which take guests from distant markets to Europe has also resulted in a large increase in traffic from these markets. In the last 3 years, guests from China have almost tripled their number of overnight stays while US citizens have increased their overnights by 50%.

Guests from the United Kingdom are also worth mentioning. They spent 137,000 overnights in Kvarner which is 25% increase from 2018, and 44% increase from 2016! Foreign tourists account for 85% of overnight stays and domestic tourists 15% (3 million nights, an increase of 5%). 

Mali Lošinj

Most Guest Overnights on Island of Krk

Among the subregions, the island of Krk is in the lead, with an increase of 1% and 7 million overnights (and has a 36% share of total overnights in Kvarner).

The Crikvenica-Vinodol Riviera ranks second (3.2 million) followed by the island of Losinj (2.4 million). The number of overnight stays continues as follows: the Opatija Riviera and the island of Rab (2.2 million), the island of Cres (1.1 million), the Rijeka area (925,000) and Gorski Kotar (110,000). The highest percentage increase in overnight stays (14%) was recorded in the Rijeka area.

Mali Losinj (2.4 million nights) and Crikvenica (2.2 million nights) are among the "best" destinations.

Guests Prefer Croatia Family Accommodations

Family accommodations accounted for 40% of recorded overnight stays (7.7 million). Campsites and hotels recorded almost the same number of total overnights: 3.7 million each with individual shares of 19%. 

The highest increase in overnights was recorded in upper-category accommodations:

• Hotels generally realized 1% more overnights. However, 4 and 5-star hotels enjoyed a 6% increase.
• All family accommodations experienced a 1% increase in overnight stays, but 5-star family accommodations enjoyed a 38% increase!
• A similar scenario applies to campsites: there was an overall 1% decrease in overnight stays, but overnights at 5-star camps are up 22%.

Regardless of the type, 5-star facilities have seen 15% increase in overnight stays during the past year and 70% increase overnight over the last 3 years!

Cres

Nautical Tourism Overnights Up Thirty-Two Percent

These figures do not include 24,500 arrivals and 156,000 overnight stays due to nautical traffic, which in has increased by as much as 32% the last year alone. There are about 20 nautical tourism ports in Kvarner, and Marina Punat alone accounts for more than half of nautical overnights.

Kvarner Third to Istria and Split-Dalmatia in Accommodation Capacity

As of 2019, there are 190,000 permanent beds available for tourists in Kvarner which represent a 17% share in accommodation capacity within Croatia. The Kvarner region ranks third in terms of total available accommodation, which is behind Istria and Split-Dalmatia counties in Croatia. 

Irena Peršić Živadinov, Director of the Kvarner Tourist Board, emphasizes that the primary goal is to strengthen the pre and post-seasons, because one cannot always count on a record “peak” season.

Kvarner Tourist Board Expects Long-Term Increase

“In recent years, the Kvarner region has definitely succeeded in strengthening the pre and post-seasons. Compared 2010 to 2019, we have seen a huge increase in overnight stays during both seasons - almost 90%! Over the past 10 years, we have invested in the quantity and quality of the regions’ offerings. We have also focused on joint branding and activities and recognized our strengths regarding products and offerings."

“These steps probably won’t yield immediate results but will take a longer time to have an effect. Taking that into consideration, for example, 12.7 million overnight stays were recorded in 2010, it is clear that in a period of 9 years we have realized 6.3 million more overnights, or the total number of overnights in Kvarner ha increased by almost 50%,” Peršić Živadinov points out.

Follow our Travel page to keep up-to-date on tourism trends in Croatia.

It is quite fitting and appropriate that the press conference announcing the pilot-project with the goal of branding Crikvenica Riviera as the "Riviera of Love" was held on the Valentine's Day. The project "In love with Crikvenica" is financed by the EU, within Interreg Italy-Croatia 2014-2020 programme, and the first step is taking place right now, February 12th until 16th, presenting the partners (travel agencies, tour-operators, guides and media) Crikvenica Riviera as a love destination, which will make it increasingly popular outside of the main tourist season as well.

Hrturizam.hr writes about the press conference, where Crikvenica's Deputy Major Ivona Matošić Gašparović said that Crikvenica found it's way to the map of the most romantic towns in Croatia, and numerous small and larger projects, such as "Love Route" and the kissing spots helped put it there. The destination has also become increasingly popular for engadgements, weddings and vow renewals.

The director of the Istrian Tourist Development Agency, Slavica Tobok Kandić, stressed the importance of the Agency, as it ran the procurement for the project, and added that the new tourist products that already exist were recognized, that have a large potential of further commercialisation.

The partners will get the chance to get to know Crikvenica Riviera further, enjoying the activities for those in love, such as the visit to the Crikvenica Museum, walk down the Love Route, visiting the Badanj Fortress, visiting the most popular kissing spots, walking in the Labyrinth of Love and attending the concert on the evening of the Valentine's Day.

Among other goals of this project is improving the cooperation between the public and the private sectors in tourism, and coming up with the model of management for similar projects on the level of destination. Istrian Tourist Development Agency can help with their know-how on all of those goals, as they've done similar work on the Istrian peninsula succesfully in the past (especially in the completed projects Bike&Outdoor and Istra Inspirit).

December 10, 2018 — The Frankopan torta is an iconic Croatian dessert, particularly emblematic of the city of Crikvenica where it enjoys a cult status and serves as a reminder of a historical era when the Crikvenica-Vinodol region was ruled by the counts of the Frankopan family.

This lavish dessert originated in the Baroque era, and the first written mention of the Frankopan cake appeared in a 1686 cookbook written by Dutchess Eleonora Maria Rosalia von Eggenberg. The recipe was kept a secret up until 1993 when it was reconstructed at the Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb.

Here is the recipe variation from Kuharica našeh non, a cookbook published by the Crikvenica Tourist Board.

Ingredients
500g puff pastry, pre-made
400ml whipping cream
6 egg yolks
150g sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
200g roasted almonds, chopped
100g raisins, rum-soaked
3 drops rose water
120g butter, softened
pinch of powdered cinnamon
pinch of grated nutmeg
1 whole lemon zest

For decorating
400ml whipping cream
500g peach compote

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C/356F. Roll out the puff pastry dough and cut into 4 equal squares. Bake until golden brown.

2) To make the cream, heat up the whipping cream and then stir in egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Continue mixing over a bain-marie until the mixture thickens. Leave to chill.

3) When the cream is chilled, fold in the butter, almonds, and raisins. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Mix well.

4) To assemble the cake, spread equal parts of cream on top of each puff pastry layer, and gently stack them on top of each other. Put in the fridge and leave to set. Use the remaining whipped cream to cover the entire cake, and decorate it with sliced peaches.

For more delicious recipes, make sure you follow TCN's dedicated gourmet page.

Gone are the days of dangerous drop-offs in Crikvenica. Buses will be able to enter the city with a vignette, after which they will be provided with a parking space where passengers can disembark and board.

An upgrade for Crikvenica's port in on the cards.

Jadran d.d. from Crikvenica - the tourist company that own 8 hotels, 2 campsites and a holiday village on the Crikvenica Riviera - has begun a project to install charging stations for electric vehicles at their hotels. Jadran hotel “Omorika” has installed the first charging station for electric vehicles in the city of Crikvenica, and the only filling station between Rijeka and Senj.

The reconstruction of the hotel foresees the demolition of the connecting element between the old and the new part of the building, laundry room, utility room with an open terrace, a carport in front of the south entrance and the restaurant, and construction of a new connecting element between the two parts of the building.